


Shadow of Doubt

by ladydragon76



Series: Eclipsed [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 18:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12636705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon76/pseuds/ladydragon76
Summary: Summary:Megatron's back, he knows he fragged up, and then poor Starscream ends up in a cave fic.





	Shadow of Doubt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NKfloofiepoof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NKfloofiepoof/gifts).



> **'Verse:** G1  
>  **Series:** Eclipsed  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Characters:** Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Grimlock  
>  **Warnings:** None  
>  **Notes:** HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NK!!!!  <3 <3 <3 I'm totally cheating here because she and I RP'd some of this out ages ago. With NK's permission, I've mined out a number of my tags and stolen some of her lines that still fit the new angle having started this 'verse with _Railed_ brought about. Enjoy!

Megatron took the time to clean himself up once he reached the coast, the sand helping to scrub off the dried and gummy residue from a truly wonderful bit of interfacing. Though it was with a heavy spark that he finally entered the _Victory_ 's docking bay to be greeted by his lieutenants.

"There you are," Starscream said with a grin. "We were beginning to wonder if he had left you alive or not."

Untrue, because Megatron knew Soundwave had monitored his signal the entire time. Had Megatron's life been in danger at all, a rescue in the form of Skywarp would have been sent instantly. And normally, Megatron would have appreciated the teasing and joked back readily, however this time...

"Alive, yes," Megatron said as they made their way toward the control deck. "But I fragged up."

"How?" Starscream asked, worry lacing his field while Soundwave tilted his helm in inquiry as well.

"I asked him to leave them," Megatron answered. The door slid open, and he returned Skywarp's smile and wave of greeting with a nod before crossing to his chair and tiredly collapsing into it.

"How is that fragging up?" Starscream asked and perched himself on the arm of said chair.

Megatron curled a hand around the Seeker's waist and took some measure of comfort in the warmth of Starscream's plating, how easily their legs touched and fields melded. "Because now he believes I was merely trying to seduce him away from the Autobots. Nothing I ever say to him or his brothers will ever be seen as honest, just an attempt to trick them."

Starscream frowned, and Soundwave nodded. "Trust unlikely."

"So we don't even try?" Starscream asked. "I realize today was impromptu and more for the distraction, but if there's a chance we could get them away from Prime, shouldn't we take it?"

"We certainly can't send anyone else to speak with them now." Megatron scrubbed his free hand down over his face and heaved a sigh. Primus, he was worn out. He was used to an enthusiastic trine of Seekers in his berth, and Grimlock had still exhausted him. It was the intensity of the overloads, particularly the last one, Megatron thought. "Any Decepticon will be suspect." He looked up at Starscream and gave his waist a squeeze. "How did the project go?"

The Seeker snerked and rolled his optics, but he did allow the subject change. "Fine. While you were busy so thoroughly _distracting_ Grimlock, we were able to drill into the vent and set up the collector. Any energy readings the Autobots get will seem to be coming from their own collectors, and so long as we're careful and Skywarp can maintain his focus when teleporting, we should have a little additional energon." He paused and cocked his helm to the side a little as he looked down at Megatron. "So long as Grimlock doesn't come clean and say where you were today."

Megatron frowned as he considered it. "There's no love lost between the Dinobots and Autobot command. I think we might be safe so long as Grimlock himself doesn't get overly suspicious and go nosing about."

Soundwave hummed softly and moved to take over his usual station from Frenzy. "Possibility exists."

Which meant it was enough of one that Soundwave was already considering better security for their little cave. Megatron left it be though, tired and spark-sore in so many ways.

"We'll get a chance, and we'll take it," Starscream promised softly, fingers gentle as they stroked down Megatron's cheek. "They'll either come with us when we escape or not, but we'll try to convince them if we can."

They all left unsaid that none of them knew how to manage that escape yet.

~ | ~

Starscream clenched his jaw against a groan as he came back online, helm aching, but when he reached to touch his head, a sharp pain lanced through his arm. "Frag," he hissed, a systems check returning lower energon levels than there should have been. There was also a weight over his feet and halfway up one leg, but Starscream was able to kick free of what turned out to be a tumble of rock and dirt. Great. He was underground.

What the Pit had happened? He had been flying, sun on his wings but the air crisp in the late winter afternoon. It was a battle, he remembered that much, but what had taken him out? How had he ended up buried?

Was there an easy way out?

Looking around, Starscream could see nothing except for a fuzzy, dim glow of red. With a frowned, he tried to get his vision to even out and the static to clear. That looked like a visor... "Soundwave?"

"No," a deep, growling voice replied, making a shiver run through Starscream's spark.

In the months since Megatron's encounter with Grimlock the Decepticons' little tap into the Autobots' lava tube had gone unnoticed. However, Grimlock fought harder against Megatron. The Dinobot was clearly perturbed with Starscream's leader -a fact which caused Megatron no end of guilt- and here Starscream was, trapped all alone with Grimlock. Underground.

Before he could stop himself, Starscream had pinged his comms rather vigorously while fighting to keep the worst of the trepidation from his field. "I suggest a truce until we're rescued," he said, his voice rasping more than usual. "If we start fighting in here, we'll both die."

The red of the visor angled as Grimlock tipped his helm to the side. "You Starscream not start fight, me Grimlock not start fight either. Dinobots come soon. Dig us out."

Starscream bit his lip and nodded. "Agreed," he said and very slowly reached into his subspace for a light and medkit. His right arm was bleeding steadily enough to be a problem before rescue arrived. Starscream did wonder who would reach them first though. Often after battles a full retreat had to be engaged, and then the Decepticons would hurry back once the Autobots were clear of the area to collect anyone who had to be left behind. Rescue was easier without Prime baiting Megatron and Megatron trying to distract the madmech and keep all that considerable power and attention on himself while the rest of the Decepticons scrambled for what they could and escaped.

Unfortunately, and by all reports, the Dinobots were a close-knit group, and it was unlikely that Grimlock would be abandoned by his brothers. That left Starscream's spark pulsing faster. He did _not_ want to be taken prisoner. It'd happened before, and the nightmares had plagued him for more than a vorn.

"You Starscream hurt. Grimlock can smell."

"A minor cut," Starscream said dismissively as he clicked on the little handheld light and looked for a spot to set it. A jut of tumbled stone served, and after only a moment's fiddling, Starscream had it angled well enough. "A static patch, and it'll be fine." It was a little worse than that- a gash in one of his forearm arterials seeped constantly and needed that patch to get the bleeding to stop. First, Starscream needed to clean it though, and he had never managed to get as good with his left hand as he was with his right. Shooting yes, but not delicate, minute repairs.

Starscream could _feel_ Grimlock watching him. "You Starscream need help?"

Biting his lip, Starscream tried once more to get the cleaning pad out of the way and the patch in place before too much energon seeped out to keep it from sticking again, and failed. With a frustrated huff, the Seeker glanced at Grimlock, weighing the risk of letting the big mech so close to him, and how long he could keep this up before the strain his systems were already suffering caused him to shake too much to do the repair.

"If you want," Starscream replied at length. "I really just need the blood wiped away so I can slap the patch over the cut."

Grimlock crawled over, winglets tucked to avoid scraping them on their temporary roof, and knelt beside Starscream. He loomed, large and intimidating, and Starscream tried again to reconcile the genuinely dangerous, violent fighter he knew with the mech who Megatron claimed had only touched him carefully even as he pinned him and fragged him through the ground.

The reconciliation became a little easier as Grimlock cradled Starscream's arm and efficiently wiped the energon away before deftly placing the patch. Starscream had no chance to do it for himself it was over so quickly.

"There."

Starscream was released, and he double checked the patch before looking up at that red visor. "Thank you," he murmured.

"You Starscream welcome," Grimlock replied, helm tilted a bit.

"Why are you speaking like that?" Starscream dared ask. "You're no drone for all Prime likes to keep you and your brothers locked in a closet." Grimlock growled, but as he shifted to move away, Starscream swung his arm out to grasp a thick wrist. Pain jagged up his arm, but he refused to let go. "You're a mech. You're sparked. Why don't you act like it? Why not demand to be treated as you rightfully deserve?"

Grimlock glanced down at Starscream's newly patched arm, and for a moment the Seeker thought he might just be about to lose his hand. "Why bother? Everyone want treat Dinobots like drones. Dinobots act like drones."

Starscream eased his hand off Grimlock, but he frowned up at the big mech. "Pitslag. A mech shouldn't be treated like a mindless drone."

"Dinobots not real mechs. Accidents. Not supposed to be... this."

Starscream's frown deepened into a scowl. He _knew_ Grimlock was capable of full speech, knew he'd spoken normally to Megatron- though perhaps Grimlock didn't believe Megatron would have told his Second about that encounter. No. Of course Grimlock wouldn't consider how very much Megatron shared with Starscream, or Soundwave for that matter. But Starscream did know, and he wanted to grab the mech and shake him until something rattled. All his life the Seeker had been fighting and clawing and _killing_ , risking his life and the lives of mechs he cared about for the dream of being treated like a _person_ instead of a toy. He had found that in the Decepticons, but here Grimlock was, unwilling to even _try_?

Frustration sizzled though Starscream's spark. "So what? Live in a closet? Take their scraps?"

The red of that visor darkened and narrowed. "Right. I forgot. The Decepticons are the good guys."

A shiver ran right down Starscream's back between his wings, and it wasn't the threat in Grimlock's tone, but the smooth, bass notes themselves. Primus. He could give Thundercracker a run for his money. "No one's innocent anymore," Starscream said, searching for the right words. Grimlock was on guard and had no reason to believe anything the Seeker said about the Decepticons. On blind hope, but fairly sure the signal wouldn't get through this time any better than it had on the first attempt, Starscream sent a broadband ping on all Decepticon channels. He received nothing in return.

Grimlock made himself comfortable across the little pocket of a cave, arms draped over upraised knees. "I'm not going to fall for it."

Starscream shook his head and tucked his injured arm in close to his chest. It ached, and he suddenly felt a little more hopeless than usual. "There's nothing to fall for," he said, but their attention was drawn by the sound of movement and the dust which rained down from the ceiling near Grimlock. Starscream tried to brace himself, settle his mind, and prepare for the coming interrogation.

But then Grimlock looked squarely at him. "Stay quiet. Not get caught."

Starscream stared for a moment, but then he quickly shut off the light and tucked it and the medkit back into his subspace. He blindly eyed the spot where the digging was occurring and scooted farther from it, carefully angling around a bit of tumbled rock which would hopefully hide him from view enough. "Accident or not," Starscream said softly, "you're a living, sapient mech, and they're not treating you right at all. I can't even imagine locking a mech up until I needed to use him."

"And I can't imagine letting someone treat me the way Megatron treats you and the other Decepticons. At least I have my family, and Prime doesn't beat us into submission," Grimlock sneered.

Bright sunlight spilled in on the heels of a tiny avalanche, and Starscream watched Grimlock look up before shifting to kneel and block the space.

"Jazz! Me Grimlock stuck."

Starscream ground down hard on the desire to correct the Dinobot about Megatron. That was the most hated lie Starscream lived, but Jazz was right there- he had to swallow the words. Pits no, and thank you very much, goodbye. He did _not_ want to have to fight his way past _Jazz_ of all mechs to get free. Nonessential systems were slowed or shut down. Starscream shut his optics and hunkered as low as he could behind the stone, wings tucked in uncomfortably tight. He kept his respiration as slow and steady as he could, as overheating would only draw attention, and listened as Jazz chuckled and replied to Grimlock.

"Not no more, Grimlock! Need help gettin' out? Got Sludge here," Jazz said. "Ratch wants ta know if ya're hurt. Didn't see it m'self, but Skyfire says Starscream plowed right inta ya."

"Grimlock not hurt. Just stuck and not want rocks fall on Grimlock head."

There was some shifting and scraping, and Starscream resisted the urge to watch.

"Sludge get Grimlock un-stuck!" came an enthusiastic shout.

"Easy, Sludge," Jazz warned. "Don't wanna knock more stone down on Grimlock. So, hey. Screamer buried in there with ya? No one's seen him since he hit ya."

"No," Grimlock lied, almost stealing the air from Starscream's vents. He hadn't _really_ believed the Dinobot would cover for him. _Why_ would Grimlock cover for Starscream? "Only Grimlock stuck in little hole."

"Good thing ya're used ta caves, huh?" Jazz laughed, and that made Starscream want to stride over there and punch the glitch right in the neck.

Starscream was, thankfully, startled out of his violent thoughts as a ping reached his comms. He gnawed his lip and waited to reply, fearful of answering Frenzy just yet. He could hear as Grimlock moved, smaller rocks rattling down into the hole. Worst case scenario- it all caved in and Starscream would just have to wait until the Decepticons could safely dig him out. _Carefully_ , he shifted closer to the larger jut of rock he hid behind. Hopefully, if there was another cave in, he wouldn't be as crushed. What was confusing was Grimlock's willingness to lie for him. Starscream didn't know what to make of that.

"Com'on, Sludge," Jazz said. "Drag him outta there and let's head home. Call this fragged day done with."

There was a grunt, the rumble of something large and non-metallic moving away from the hole, and then with another shower of small pebbles, the little cavern was filled with light. The Autobots' voices grew distant and more muffled as Starscream listened to them move off. He would recognize the roar of Skyfire's thrusters anywhere and slowly relaxed as they faded away, leaving the world in silence.

Though Starscream knew he wasn't in the clear just yet.

Jazz was dangerously clever and quick, and as the Seeker moved toward the exit, he scanned for any little surprises left behind. A soft, chill breeze blew in, and Starscream dared poke his helm up. Above him, the sky had changed to red and orange as sunset colored the clouds, and with one last calculation, Starscream tucked in his wings and launched himself free with his thrusters.

"Ya ain't hurt?" Frenzy called, and Starscream angled toward him, relieved to hear a friendly voice.

"I'm mostly fine," Starscream replied, scanners still running and optics sweeping the area.

"They're all gone. Watched 'em myself ta be sure," Frenzy said and hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Gotcher trine waitin' though. Weren't sure ya'd be able ta fly on yer own."

Starscream double checked his systems. With his arm, he probably shouldn't transform, but flight was possible. "I'll need a cube, but I should be able to fly." He held down his left hand and kept the right tucked close to his body. "Want a lift?"

Frenzy chuckled and let himself be picked up. "So. Ya have any luck? And are ya sure ya're ok?"

"I can get us to Skywarp and Thundercracker," Starscream said as he engaged his antigravs. "As to luck?" He shook his helm and sighed. "He lied for me? He's the one who put the patch on my arm, but as for convincing him he and his brothers would be better off with us?" Grimlock's words rang in Starscream's audials. "No," he said and shook his helm. "I don't think there was any impression made there."

"Then why'd he help ya?"

"Why'd he agree to 'face Megatron?" Starscream asked in return, though he left off further conversation as his trinemates appeared, their faces drawn and worried. "I'm fine," he called.

"Don't look fine," Skywarp said, and reached out to take Frenzy.

"I got antigravs too," Frenzy said, though he tucked himself just as carefully against Skywarp's side.

"Can you make it back to the ship?" Thundercracker asked as he looked Starscream over.

Starscream nodded. "Yes, but I could use some energon." Thundercracker offered a cube immediately, and Starscream had to force himself to drink it slowly. He _was_ low, but jolting his systems after the crash and blood loss wouldn't do him any favors.

"Soundwave's pingin' me," Frenzy said as they all set out for the coast. "Told 'im ya were ok, but ta let Hook know ya'd need a few repairs."

"Thanks," Starscream said and dared push a bit more energy to his thrusters. "Let's get home." He was sure Megatron would be twisted up with concern, and no doubt Frenzy had relayed that Starscream had been trapped with Grimlock, so his leader would be wondering about that as well. But mostly, Starscream was sore and tired, and he just wanted to be back on the _Victory_ so he could curl up on his berth to rest.


End file.
